Brussels Sprouts with fennel and bacon!

I.  Love.  Brussels Sprouts!  I didn't used to love them, but now sometimes, I can't stop eating them!!!  I never ate them growing up and my first encounter with them was when I was an adult and I happened across them in the frozen veggie section.  I was making my own baby food at the time (trying to offer a variety of veggies so I wouldn't have a picky eater as he got older) and I made my oldest son Michael, some boiled and pureed frozen brussels sprouts that smelled like feet (GAG!!).  Poor sweet baby!  He ate them, but you could tell he didn't really want to!  Soooo, I decided to hang up my brussels sprouts cooking shoes for a while after that.  Ha!

.......Until........my dear friend Carla showed me the error of my brussels sprouts cooking ways (Thank you, thank you Carla!)!  Saute' them in coconut oil or butter, salt and pepper until they are cooked through.  Delicioso!!  So good!  Mike liked them too (which, he really likes all food, unless it's really, really bad......which thankfully has only happened once in our marriage) so that was a plus!  My kids?  Well, none of them have quite come around but I am working on converting them.  Michael may never come around since I tortured him with them when he was a baby, but we will see.....I'm gonna keep trying.  ;-)

Anyway, so I had gotten stuck in a rut.  Every few days we were having saute'd brussels sprouts and Mike requested that we take a break from eating them.....haha....oops!  So I waited a while and decided to look into other ways to cook them.  Then I decided I should make one up of my own.  I was inspired by a recipe I found in the 21 Day Sugar Detox Cookbook (affiliate link).

Here's what I came up with.....

Brussels Sprouts with Fennel and Bacon

1 Package Brussels Sprouts
1 Fennel Bulb
2 Tbsp coconut oil
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Juice from 1/2 of a lemon
4-6 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped

Slice the brussels sprouts and fennel bulb (keep the tops of the fennel for another recipe or put in the compost bin).  Melt coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Once the oil is hot, place brussels sprouts and fennel in the pan.  Sprinkle salt, garlic and pepper on top and stir to combine.  Saute' for a few minutes (about 3-5) and then squeeze the lemon on top and continue sauteing for about 10 minutes.  When the fennel is just about done, add chopped bacon and continue cooking until the bacon is warm and the fennel is tender (you want it to have a little bit of a bite to it....no mushy fennel) :)  Serve warm!

Yummy!!

I had to add this picture because while I was taking the picture of the dish,

 Ethan asked me to take a picture of his plate too.  haha.  

This is what was there....not very pretty, but he was pleased with it :)

(This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive monetary compensation)